Characteristics of a Champion - A U of M Series

This is a series I finished up about a week ago for the University of Memphis football team. I had a particularly good time with it because it was an idea that I threw to them and they let me run with it. I am quite pleased with the result.

I wanted to take the "TIGERS" nickname and relate each letter in it to a characteristic of a champion. By doing so, I wanted to show that those characteristics define the Tigers program as well, showing their dedication to becoming a championship caliber program. I made each piece into a little mini-poster wit the definition of each characteristic going front and center. I really loved using the curly brackets to frame the definition as it gives a little elegant flair to an otherwise gritty series.

I thought the modern serifed font worked well to give that dictionary feel to the definitions and the subsequent blurb below each one as well. I contrasted it with a nice sans-serif headline font for the title to balance the type in the piece.

I had to let each image reflect the definition being described or else the whole piece would fall apart. I also added a little overlaid texture and high contrast blacks in the background to make them a little more than simply photographs. I also toned their overall density down a little as well in order to help the defintions pop out more.

As I said before, I really loved doing this series and am very pleased with the results. I hope you enjoy the series as well!

UT-Chattanooga 2012 Football Schedule Poster

I was fortunate enough that UTC came to me again this year to work on their football schedule poster. This time around they had a photo shoot for the poster, which made the pictures extra sharp for me to use. I really enjoyed putting this one together. I wanted to play with a vertical schedule on a horizontal layout and I think it worked out well. I also wanted the attention focused mainly on the coach and players with the schedule playing second fiddle, and I believe that is happening in this poster as well. All in all it was a fun piece that produced an awesome result. I'm waiting to get a few of the printed posters from the university, at which point I will post those images up here as well.

U of M 2012 Season Invites

If you can believe it, another football season is upon us, which means it is time for the Tigers season invite to their home games. I did one version for coaches and one for players. All the information is basically the same on both, the only big change being the player picture at the bottom. I had fun with a few filters to get each picture to have the super glossy-gritty combination look on both. It was a fun project as always. I really enjoy working on schedule layouts and hope that this one gets a few players to come to some games!

Double MiLB Mascot Madness! (Muddy & Orbit)

 

Not only was it my fiancee's birthday this weekend, but it was also Orbit's. Therefore, I got the above drawing wrapped up in time to celebrate his awesomeness. I use to have a stuffed animal of him from my first Aeros game that I always loved. I was born in Akron so I have always rooted for the Aeros.They have one my favorite logos in sports because of their unique nickname, intense use of color in their primary mark, and the insane italics in their wordmark. It was a lot of fun to put this drawing together.

I also recently wrapped up this drawing of Muddy, the mascot for the Carolina Mudcats. The Mudcats have replaced the former Kinston Indians as the Indians' High-A Affiliate this season. Muddy was fun to draw because it's not every day you see a catfish walking on two legs in full baseball garb. Also, the Mudcats are the only Indians affiliate close to my neck of the woods here in the southeast, so I had to make sure to represent them well in my continuing quest to draw all the Indians affiliate mascots.

(Disclaimer: Representations of team logos appearing on uniforms are there to capture the mascot as close as he/she appears in real life and I'm not claiming those logos as my work. All credit goes to the designers who have created them.)

Come on down...and meet Skippy!

I've learned something about myself over the years: If your mascot is lime green, then I'm automatically a fan.

I don't know what it is about that color. It must be the perfect mascot color or something. Therefore, I was insanely excited that one of the Indians' affiliates, the Lake County Captains, had such a mascot, Skippy. Obviously, his lime green pudginess was my favorite part of drawing him. However, I must tip my cap to the team branding as well, as I think their logo set is pretty awesome. I love the lighthouse as the "I" in the Captains wordmark. It fits so seamlessly in the logo that it acts as both an "I" and lighthouse simultaneously. Perfection my friends.

(Disclaimer: Representations of team logos appearing on uniforms are there to capture the mascot as close as he/she appears in real life and I'm not claiming those logos as my work. All credit goes to the designers who have created them.)

Mahoning Valley Scrappers Mascot...Here's Scrappy!

I'm trying to go in order of minor league level in completing my Indians' affiliate mascot drawings. Therefore, first up is Scrappy, the mascot of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. He's always been one of my favorite mascots and I had a lot of fun putting this drawing together. I particularly enjoy the chain-link necklace and hardhat. It's those little quirks that really help define a mascot and make it just a little different from the rest.

(Disclaimer: Representations of team logos appearing on uniforms are there to capture the mascot as close as he/she appears in real life and I'm not claiming those logos as my work. All credit goes to the designers who have created them.)

A Little MiLB Mascot Sketching

I don't know how you spent your 4th of July, but since it was so wonderfully hot and muggy here in Knoxville I decided to stay inside and sketch a little. More specifically, I decided to sketch out the mascots of my beloved Cleveland Indians' affiliates (yeah, I love the Tribe that much). I plan on coloring each one over the next few weeks.

From L-R*: Scrappy (Mahoning Valley Scrappers), Skippy (Lake County Captains), Muddy (Carolina Mudcats), Orbit (Akron Aeros), Lou Seal (Columbus Clippers)

*In case you were wondering...yes, I was nerdy enough to organize my sketches by minor league class from Rookie-AAA. What can I say? I love the absolute plethora of teams and mascots in minor league baseball.